North Vernon XC

Woke up around 9. Noticed a bit of soreness in my hammies a reminder of the stxc from the day before. My hammies rarely get sore so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal for the xc race. I never noticed it during the race though.

The course was around 4.5 miles of fast twisty stuff, super-fun. A couple climbs but none of them are really leg breakers. The start was in a grassy section that went behind some concrete bathrooms and a horseshoe pit. Probably not more than 100 yards before we dumped left into a fast singletrack downhill. Then we snaked around for a second before going down a little more then making a sharp right up a steep hill that can be tricky due to the steepness and the rocks and roots on it. I was able to climb it in the pre-ride but knew it would be an issue on first lap when we were still all together. So i definitely wanted a good start.

On the line I look next to me and it's a kid with flat pedals and tennis shoes. I'm thinking ole crap, try not to get stuck behind him. There were probably 15 or more for my class. We were shoulder to shoulder on the line. Brian sounds the megaphone horn and immediately the kid on flat pedals gets out front. He got a bit of a gap on us all too. He was going so hard on that start that I didn't want to even try to get around him. He got in the woods first followed by a purdue rider I believe then or maybe a graygoat rider then me. I don't know but since the kid with flat pedals was in front I pretty much figured I was going to have to dismount on the steep climb. We get to it and I dump my gears but I didn't have anywhere to go and ended up bumping the guy in front of me so I dismount as guys behind me cuss and start running. I run past the kid with flat pedals as he gets back on his bike and slowly starts riding. he didn't want to let me around but I definitely didn't want him in front of me. So as I get around him I move up to only having one guy in front of me but by the time we make it to a section that I can see further ahead of me I notice that he already has 10 seconds or so. After a mile or two I let two riders around maybe more. One of them being the kid that has been winning all the 19-29 races. We started a little switchbacked climb and caught the tale-end of the sport open riders. At that point I got confused about who was where and it was much easier for some to slip away. They don't really get more than a few seconds away and I was kind of staying in contact.

I was riding on my own with a couple a few seconds ahead of me and a couple a few seonds behind me. Then I came around a sharp turn and there was a sappling right in my line some people had gone left around it and others right. I didn't do either. I just ended up running off into the brush and flying over my handlebars. I got up put my water bottle back in the cage and tried to collect myself as two riders came around. One being Nick. So I start working trying to get back on his wheel. Then we come to a road section and he attacked the kid in front of him. I'm still trying to close the gap and as we get back into the woods and go down a hill to a ditch full of sticks I hit a hole and bobbed my front tire so hard that I came off the bike again. The two in front of me get away and I never ened up seeing nick again. I had thought about DNF'ing quite a bit during the next lap especially since Nick was in front of me and I had lost contact with him.

Nothing much happened during the second lap except for me being frustrated and worried about saving a little for the finish. I did pass the kid who had passed me previously after my first wreck.

On the last lap with about 2 miles to go I started trying to pick it up and finish strong. I was happy with the way I finished and happy with the way I rode aside from the 2 wrecks and the sluggish way I rode the first part of the second lap. I ended up finishing 4th. Nick got 3rd by 28 seconds. It was a great ride for him and he no longer qualifies for advice from me. I'm not going to tell him about races or anything anymore. He can fend for himself now. :)

So, STXC 4th place and XC 4th place. Julia tells me I love 4th place. I'm thinking she might be right. My time was 1:24 :29 , last year it was like 1:32:00 but the course had to be faster this year. Last year there was only like one guy that finished below 1:20:00. This year there was a slew of sport riders that finished below that time. I'm starting to realize that people who have told me Sport class is the toughest class might be right. It's been hard for me to make any progress lately. I'm not down about it though. I don't think I'm ever going to be pro and I'm okay with that. I do want to make it out of sport class though.